


Hole In The Ground

by AshAlert



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Again, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Anxiety Attacks, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, General Trigger Warning, Graphic description of panic attacks, Happy Ending, I don't know if the next one is true but just in case, I had a panic attack and want to vent so here this is, I vent through hurting Keith, Keith (Voltron) Angst, Keith doesn't want to lose Shiro, Keith has a panic attack, Keith needs to let people in, Lance has a little suggestive thought, M/M, More panic, Not Beta Read, Panic Attacks, Sad Keith (Voltron), Shallura if you squint, Shiro is shiroGONE, Sorry Not Sorry, Texan Keith (Voltron), The ending I have written is the most DISGUSTINGLY FLUFFY thing I have ever wrote, They are Both Dorks, Which is good because the next story I have planned is angst angst and more angst, after I upload it, bad to worse to good to bad to best, emotional stress, lance comforts keith, minor insecure Lance, only like in one paragraph so it can be ignored if you are not adept at anatomy, or at least tries to, takes place after season two, we have also graduated to a
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-20
Updated: 2017-07-14
Packaged: 2018-11-16 17:44:25
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,990
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11257773
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AshAlert/pseuds/AshAlert
Summary: Shiro has disappeared. Having been closest to him, Keith has a panic attack. Lance didn't think that Keith could cry at all, but he is willing to do anything to stop it.(Titles from Tyler Joseph)





	1. My Own Two Hands Will Start Bleeding Again

When the Black lion was just floating adrift in space, Keith knew something was wrong.

When Keith yelled, "Shiro!.. We have to tow him back to the castle!" the other five knew something way wrong.

It was Pidge, Lance, and Keith that ran ahead of the others. Keith ran as fast as his legs could go without falling, but even that wasn't fast enough to him. He had to get there faster.  
  
"SHIRO!"

The black lion opened the door to the cockpit far too slowly. Out of all the purple glowing lights, just a few were on and if they were, they were dimmed.

"Shiro?..." Keith called out for him, but with no success.

Shiro wasn't there, the pilot's seat empty. However; the black bayard, Shiro's bayard, remained.

"He's gone..." Lance added in a tone of disbelief, he didn't want it to be true, no one did. They stood in silence for a while, no one knew how long.

Pidge was now letting tears stream down her face, useless to fight against it. She felt that she could have done something to prevent this, even though that wasn't true.

Lance thought that too, again wrong. He was still in shock, still in denial. He stood there like a statue. _'How could he just disappear? Where could he possibly go?'_

Hunk didn't blame himself or anybody else, besides Zarkon and his forces. There were tears forming, but he was still trying to fight them. The, now tallest paladin there, slightly moved around the room, searching for any clues as to why this happened.

Coran joined Hunk. He was in the same state as Lance almost, but he refused to stay put, the anxiety he had at the moment would not allow it.

Allura, removed her hands from the back of the pilot's seat, covering her mouth with one hand and the other arm wrapping around her waist tightly as if trying to hug herself. She felt absolutely sick. After all, out of all the paladins, she had worked with Shiro the most. Countless vargas of planning, strategizing, training, and even just talking to one another. She held back her sobs as best she could.

The moving around from Hunk and Coran, the sniffles from Pidge, and the choppy breaths Allura let out every once in a while took away the awful silence and at the very least gave Lance the comfort of noise.

Then, another sound took it away, another voice. A voice he thought he would never hear, he believed it to be impossible. It was broken. Weak, uneven, and tired. It didn't sound like Keith.

"No, no, no, no, no..." Keith repeated it like a mantra, as quietly as his voice could go. His hair was covering his face, but Lance suspected the boy next to him, if it was possible, was about to cry.

Lance looked around, he didn't know to deal with this, at least not in Keith's case, but maybe someone else did.

Hunk was still looking around, but Coran had took the bayard, probably to store it somewhere safe for when Shiro came back. Because he had to come back. Pidge wasn't there anymore. He guessed that it was too much for her and she had probably either went to her room or the large gathering room she had claimed and her 'Automation Station' or 'Tech Deck.' Only Allura left now, but—

_'Allura is about the same distance away from Keith as I am, why didn't she hear him?'_

The princess shook and let out a small, choked sob once again.

_'Oh, right...'_

Lance felt bad, but he knew she'd flip him onto his back again if he touched her shoulder right now. Then again, Keith could easily do that to him too.

_'Maybe I should stay quiet...'_

 

And he did– for about eight seconds. Hey, it could have been nine, but he didn't count. He was too focused on Keith.

During the debate Lance had with himself about whether he should speak, Keith had started pulling at his own hair. Fortunately, or maybe unfortunately, Lance could see Keith's face now and he was definitely crying.

What was Lance to do now? The person Lance had always tried to outdo, tried to be strong and determined as, was crying. Lance had decided he was going to attempt to comfort him. He reached out slightly. 

"Keith?... Are y-" 

Before he finished, Keith ran out of the black lion. He had missed his chance. However, Lance was _not_ giving up that easily. He ran right after him.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


	2. And The Floor Will Turn To

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They both need help. Rip.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I HAVE BEEN STALLING I AM SO SORRY IT TOOK THIS LONG.

  
Normally it slowly built up inside, so he had enough time to run to the training room, star deck, or his room if the other two were occupied. Not this time. He hated how he could not control it this time. Nobody else was supposed to see him like this, only Shiro, but Shiro was gone and there was no one there for him.

The black lion suddenly felt too crowded despite there being only a couple people there. Keith felt his lips moving, but could not make sense of anything around him except the suffocating atmosphere and the burning palpitations of his own heart. He had not gotten here fast enough, but now everything was going too fast and he desperately needed to get out. He ran out of Black. Keith knew he needed to ask for help. He knew he needed it. However, he also knew he couldn’t. Who would he ask? He tried to list them out in his head, trying to avoid the panicked state he knew all too well.

 _'Hunk is really nice to everyone I'm sure he would listen._  
He doesn't have time for me he needs to help someone more useful.  
  
Allura is dealing with enough,  
I'll just make it worse.

_I don't know where Coran or Pidge went off to.  
The don't want to talk to you that's why they left._

_Lance–  
Lance hates me. At least he has a good reason to._

_And Shiro is gone... I'm alone. I'm alone again.'_

 

Red sensed something was wrong. Her yellow eyes lit up as she stood and followed after Keith. She purred as if to get Keith’s attention or to calm him down. He ran into the main castle where she could not fit so she laid at the door sadly, trying to connect with him and tell him that they would all be okay. He didn’t answer or come back.

  
By the time he reached the star deck he could barely breathe. His lungs felt like they were on fire, but he felt like he was drowning as well and the combination was terrifying. Keith slammed his hand on a button, closing and locking the door behind him. If he weren’t sobbing so hard and if he were listening better, he could have heard a thud against the door, but he didn’t. Instead, he slowly slid down the wall and covered his mouth, trying not to make as much noise.

The windows had been freshly cleaned, so when he looked out he could see the galaxy they were currently in clearly, if not slightly blurry from him tears. There were only a few planets, one that would probably be classified as a dwarf, and compared to the average galaxy, there were barely any stars. Despite this, he still found it a beautiful distraction from the panic and the black seeping in from the edge of his vision.

Keith suddenly felt the pain from his body he had been trying to ignore and this time it was worse than ever.

He could hardly breathe. His eyes and throat hurt from crying so violently. He felt himself trembling and was now aware that he was rocking back and forth, probably subconsciously trying to calm down. Even now, he couldn't hear the words coming from his own mouth. The pleading.  
“Shiro, please don't leave me again. Please don't leave. I need you.  
I need you.  
Please. I need you…”  
He couldn't hear the yelling from the other side of the door.

——————

  
He would admit later that running after Keith wasn't his first idea. He had contemplated asking Hunk first. But now, here Lance was, chasing after his self-proclaimed rival who he actually kind of looked up to and had a tiny crush on, but he was not going to admit that any time soon. Lance had followed Keith through the halls calling his name and surprisingly only losing track of him once or twice, maybe three times.

Keith finally ran in a room and Lance followed behind him. Well, tried to. The Red Paladin had, unfortunately for Lance, remembered to shut the door and Lance had ran nose first into it. Honestly, Lance was surprised his nose wasn't gushing out blood.

“OW! Keith! Open this door right now!” The taller yelled, feeling a sting of pain as he realized how much he sounded like his own mom. Lance took a breath and tried to calm down after realizing he was probably being too harsh for the situation.

“Keith?... I know you’re in there. I hear you,” He hesitated, “I hear you crying… If you don't open the door then I’m going to.”

After about 30 ticks of standing there, Lance got his bayard, formed his blaster, and shot the door panel. It actually opened, he was kind of glad all of those sci-fi movies back home didn't lie to him. He knew he’d get yelled at for breaking the door later though.

Lance walked in, as soon as he saw the state Keith was in, he dropped the blue bayard and ran to him.

“Keith? Buddy?...”

Again there was no answer. Keith kept crying, also keeping his eyes tightly shut.

“It’s okay. You’re gonna be okay. We’ll find him. You know none of us will stop searching, especially you since you are the literal definition of the word ‘stubborn.’” Lance laughed slightly and kept his voice soft this time.

He knew this was going to be a hard time the shorter boy. Just a few weeks earlier, he had devolved the secret of his crush feelings to Shiro. After the laughing and the hour long lecture about how if Lance even tried anything he didn’t approve of, he would not hesitate to tie him to Black’s tail and make her fly around like a wild animal, he told Lance a bit of why Keith acts the way he does.   
First, Keith's birth mother was never in his life that he remembers. He vaguely remembers his dad, but he was killed in a motorcycle crash when Keith was around five years old. From there, he was an orphan, in and out of homes because no one family would keep him. Some families didn't have enough money to begin with and some he didn't get along with. One family in particular he grew extremely close to, but he got kicked out after he admitted something about himself that he now regretted. The last family he had, the mother tried to take advantage of him in the way that no one at all deserves. When he finally turned 18, he punched that lady in the abdomen and then ran away to The Garrison, which he had got accepted to several weeks prior.   
He then spent all of his time and energy working to become the best pilot. He went as far as working to exhaustion, even passing out in classes every so often. Some teachers didn't mind because they knew he was working so hard, but some did. The reason he didn't have many friends is because he did study so much. He never went to parties unless Shiro dragged him along. When he did go, he’d bring his books and/or have a panic attack in the bathroom because there were too many people.

Panic attacks… Lance should have probably asked him how to comfort Keith.

‘ _Here goes nothing.’_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes "have a panic attack in the bathroom" was KIND OF a Be More Chill reference. Michael In The Bathroom... Keith In The Bathroom... Oh my gosh someone write that please. I beg of you.


	3. To a Hole in the Ground

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Resolution and the most disgustingly fluffy ending I have ever witten.

It actually wasn't that difficult.

Comforting Keith,that is. Accepting that he was crying was a whole different story. Also, accepting that the guy he had a crush on was currently crying on his shoulder, about a millimeter away from sitting on him, and gripping onto his shirt while Lance was hugging said crush??? That was enough to make it seem fake, like he was dreaming or something. And it might sound bad, but he didn't want to wake up if Keith stayed in his arms.

“Keith, breathe. Come on, you can do this.”

Keith didn't really listen. He was still hyperventilating and the palpitations in his chest wouldn't stop. It hurt so much it was unbearable. He felt like he needed to go to the hospital again. He had gone once before for them and the doctors said it was just “growing pains.” Keith knew better. He knew, with his body the heart stops growing at age 16, he was almost 18 when they told him that.

His heart keep skipping beats and he could do nothing stop it. He had to wait it out like he did every other time. Just wait out what felt like a heart attack from Hell. Keith unconsciously gripped onto Lance’s shirt tighter.

After a few minutes, he finally started breathing kind of normally, his breaths were still a little shallow and he was still crying, but he had calmed down for the most part.

“Keith, when is the last time you had a panic attack?” Lance questioned him while he rubbed the smaller boy’s back.

“La-Last week. Or.. I think. Maybe… Time isn't real.” He could hear Keith smiling when he said the last sentence.

He smiled back. “Okay. You better come get me next time this happens though. Next question,” Lance reached for a question in his head, “Why do you keep your hair like that? Why don't you do do some _dramatic_ Mulan thing where you cut it off?”

“Um… I— I like it I guess?... Sometimes I tie my hair up in a ponytail aaand it makes everyone l-look at me weird, it’s kinda funny.”

Okay. ‘I guess?’ That wasn't the real reason. There was something more to the story than that, Lance knew there had to be.

_‘Wait did he say ponytail? Oh crap I bet he looks really good with one. His hair is really soft and flows nicely, but what’s with the little hook thing at the end? It kind of looks like a 1960s woman’s hairstyle. Oh, that’s a good insult, I’m using that later. But the ponytail? Wow??? When and where??? Show me? Tie it up in a ponytail? Tie it up- OKAY TIME TO STOP.’_

Lance then desperately needed to stop thinking about that so he blurted out a question without thinking.

“Why were you having a panic attack?”

_Uh oh. Should not have asked that._

  
Keith’s eyes started to sting again and the his lungs seemed to stop functioning.

“Shiro is gone… He’s gone. He left again. He left me again. What if he’s dead? I can't even lead Voltron for a minute, I don't want to lead, I can't. I don't want to take his place. He’s gone.”

Keith started to hyperventilate, despite feeling his throat closing up with dread.

“Oh no, I’m sorry I brought it up. It’s alright. Calm back down it’s alright. We are going to find him in perfect shape.”

“But what if I disappoint him? Oh, God I’m going to disappoint him… I can't do this. I’ll mess up. I’ll just be reckless and s— selfish like I normally am and accidentally get someone killed, Lance!”

The blue paladin has to take a few seconds to process what the red one had said since he was talking _way_ too fast for anyone to properly understand.

“You’re not selfish, reckless maybe. No one is going to get killed. We’re a team, we won't let that happen.” Lance assured Keith.

“I let it happen t’ Shiro! He could be dead!”

Lance paused. Something seemed a bit different about Keith’s voice changed when he said that. Lance was about to find out exactly what changed. Unfortunately for Keith, whenever he gets nervous and talks this fast, he can't quite hold back the dialect he grew up with. When he continued talking, that much was clear.

“Now I-I’ll have t’ lead, but y’all hate me and no one’s gonna listen, no one likes me! I shouldn’t’ve been chosen! Allura is more fit for that position than me! I don't deserve it I’m not qualified for-”

“Wait wait wait wait… Keith?” He held back a laugh.

Keith looked up sadly and a little bit angry because Lance was laughing at him. There were still a couple tears running down his face. “What?...”

“Did you just say ‘Y’all’?”

There was silence for about ten seconds before Keith made a sound somewhere in between a groan and sob. Lance was laughing so hard he could barely breathe.

“It’s not funny, Lance!” Keith punched the taller’s shoulder lightly. However, Lance’s laugh was contagious and Keith was actually starting to smile again. Lance had won. He had made Keith at least a little bit happy and that was the most important thing to him right now.

“Okay, Tex, suuuuure it isn't.”

“I’m going to kill you.”

“Nah. I’m just gonna _cradle_ you until you forget about wanting to kill me.”

Lance wrapped his arms around the smaller boy and fell back onto the floor, the other promptly falling on top of him. He was squirming trying to get out of Lance’s grip, but eventually gave up. Instead, Keith settled with relaxing, resting his head on Lance’s chest, and listening to his heart.

“Keith?”

“What?”

Lance smiled. Sometimes you don't have to verbally say _‘I love you.’_

“I love you so much.”

But that isn't going to stop Lance from telling Keith _at least_ three times a day for the rest of his life.

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yep. That's that. Tell me how I did?  
> Panic attacks are diffirent for everyone, but I mostly based it off of mine. The heart palpitions I gave him are not even exclusive to moments of panic. They happen at random and feel like heart attacks. They are painful and I'm SO SO SO sorry if you have them like I do.
> 
>  
> 
> Look out for my next story where I contiue to hurt Keith– This time with torture! Yes. I'm writing a story where he gets tortured by a certain half-Altean. (I love the 80s version okay? So much.) I don't know if it will have a happy ending. Maybe I'll let him be saved, but I don't know yet. What am I saying- I don't even have a title yet.


End file.
